Zhang Yuanqing almost thought the Demon Lord's obsession had swept him out into deep space, into an ocean of stars. Only when he saw that colossal celestial body and sensed its familiar aura did he realize this was likely the Spirit Realm world.
Every time a killing instance began, demigods roamed the Spirit Realm, watching the battle from outside the instance. Fu Qingyang had mentioned that outside an instance lay a brilliant galaxy of stars.
The aura of the Lunar... that was the complete Lunar.
Gazing at the pitch-black full moon, Zhang Yuanqing felt his heart race with an instinctive yearning and desire.
That black moon held an irresistible temptation for Night Wanderers.
Zhang Yuanqing felt the lunar power within his body spiral out of control. It was torn from him by an immense gravitational pull, drawn toward the distant Lunar body. In just a few breaths, more than half of the lunar power he had painstakingly accumulated was gone.
"Ling Tuo!"
The Demon Lord's obsession glared at the Lunar body, his voice rolling forth like crashing thunder, like a tidal wave. "I've come for my revenge!"
Inside the black moon, a pair of gigantic eyes abruptly snapped open, peering across the unfathomable distance.
"The Demon Lord? A mere remnant thought..." A soft chuckle came from within the black moon. "When you were alive, I crushed your bones and scattered your ashes. Now that you are reduced to nothing but a lingering wisp, do you still wish to play the moth darting into the flame?"
Zhang Yuanqing felt an overpowering fury erupt in his chest, blazing like wildfire until his scalp tightened and his blood pressure soared. He knew this emotion came from the Demon Lord's obsession; as the host, he was inevitably influenced.
All that anger, indignance, hatred, and malice burst forth in a wild roar of laughter:
"I cultivated for only three years, weighed down by corruption, yet I stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of you! You took advantage of my youth and set a trap to destroy me. History is written by the victors, and I have no excuses for that—but today, I will make you pay the price!"
Ling Tuo's aloof, haughty voice reverberated through the Spirit Realm: "In life, you were merely a pawn dancing in my palm. In death, you are even less worthy of fear."
The Demon Lord's obsession scoffed and flung his arms wide. The blazing sun mark on his forehead erupted with blinding golden light.
That golden beam sliced across the starry river like a bolt of brilliant silk.
As if resonating with the light, a tiny, dim star suddenly flared.
The next instant, across the boundless galaxy, a pale golden silhouette emerged. Its perimeter burned with piercing brilliance, but its interior remained dark and muted, looking remarkably like a solar eclipse.
The black moon was already a massive celestial body, yet before this silhouette, it seemed as minuscule as a speck of dust.
The moment this dim sun appeared, the Spirit Realm world was inundated with scorching heat, golden particle streams rippling like waves across the void.
Zhang Yuanqing snapped his head back, directing the golden light from his forehead straight into the dim sun. The golden beam ignited the colossal star, causing it to erupt into magnificent, radiant brilliance.
He stood proudly amid the galaxy, backed by the giant celestial body of the golden sun. With a low hum, a golden sun materialized behind his head. His short hair stood on end, entwined with shimmering light.
His eyes turned into molten gold, and his face, chest, and arms were covered with dark golden vinelike markings, solemn and ancient.
He raised his hand. Wisps of golden light cascaded from the celestial sun, condensing into a colossal greatsword.
"Ling Tuo, though I failed to integrate with the Sun and my primordial spirit and physical body burned to ash, I did not come away empty-handed. Before I fell, with my status as a quasi-Lord of the Sun, I left a brand in my character card, waiting for this very day!" Twisting his wrist, the Demon Lord planted the greatsword before him and shouted:
"The Blazing Sun Illuminates All!"
Golden ripples expanded outward from the tip of the blade, ring after ring sweeping across the starry river. Wherever they passed, waves of flame surged forth; all spiritual energy was swept clean, and every corner of darkness was illuminated.
The golden ripples swept unstoppably over the black moon, exposing the stars within. Star after star was lit, burning with golden flames and dispelling the lunar power.
The black moon rapidly disintegrated within the golden ripples, like shadows dissolving under daylight.
"Demon Lord!" Ling Tuo's sullen voice echoed from within the Lunar realm. "If I can disrupt the Spirit Realm once, I can disrupt it twice! Once this solar power disperses, I will still swallow the Merit Roster. As long as I am here, it is impossible for a Lord of the Sun to be born!"
With those words, the pitch-black moon vanished completely.
The Spirit Realm world returned to normal and began to repair itself. Stars flickered into view and swiftly returned to their proper places, including the instance that concealed the Merit Roster.
This strike seemed to have exhausted all energy. Zhang Yuanqing felt the will inside him fading away alongside the divine power of the sun. He couldn't turn his head, but he could sense the projection of the sun slowly disappearing, fading back into darkness.
Soon, the stars in the Spirit Realm twinkled as everything returned to its former state, leaving behind only the lingering warmth after the solar power's sweep.
***
Heaven's Punishment Headquarters.
Thanks to the New York County branch of the Central Court Construction Group working overtime around the clock, the main building of Heaven's Punishment headquarters had already been repaired.
The load-bearing pillars and walls hadn't suffered much damage in the first place; once the walls were patched up and the plumbing and electrical wiring were reinstalled, it was quickly put back into service.
The other buildings, however, remained surrounded by scaffolding. Even with Earth Monsters working like beasts of burden, fully repairing Heaven's Punishment's sixty-thousand-plus square meter headquarters in just a few days was impossible.
The President, who had been in Capital City just a moment ago, appeared in the conference room of Heaven's Punishment's headquarters the very next second.
Holding a stemmed goblet that radiated elegance and composure, he smiled.
"Time is tight. Are you ready, old man?"
Heaven's Punishment possessed three guilds, corresponding to the Prosecution Department, the Execution Department, and the Board of Directors. All three were Level 9 guilds. In the guild system, a Level 6 guild could appoint one vice guild leader, and a Level 9 guild could appoint two.
The authority of the vice guild leaders was virtually identical to that of the guild leader: they could open guild instances, retrieve items from the guild warehouse, recruit members, and kick members out.
The guild leader held only one single privilege over the vice guild leaders: the power to dismiss them from their positions.
Thus, even though the three demigods were currently fighting for their lives and unable to attend, the executives of Heaven's Punishment could still access the guild warehouses.
This mechanism existed precisely to prevent the fall of a guild leader from causing the guild's entire wealth to be reclaimed by the Spirit Realm, rendering the hard work of countless people utterly wasted.
The executives of Heaven's Punishment exchanged glances. Six peak Dominators stared into empty space simultaneously, their pupils unfocusing. Milton Mack was the first to retrieve a metallic fragment that radiated golden light.
Meanwhile, Doyle Jerome and a peak Dominator from the board produced two palm-sized discs.
Of the three fragments of the Compass of Light seized by Heaven's Punishment, two had been refined into rule-based items, while the third remained in its original form.
"Very good!" The President beckoned, and the three compass fragments flew into his palm of their own accord.
Without wasting any words, he was about to snap his fingers and return to Capital City.
"Wait!" Milton Mack, who was just about to close the guild interface, inadvertently glanced at his character attributes and froze.
His expression turned intensely excited as he shouted:
"Morality Points are back! Morality Points are restored..."
The high-level Dominators present opened their attribute panels almost simultaneously, only to see the [Morality Points] line reappearing on their screens.
At this moment, the Morality Points once viewed as a restriction felt extraordinarily comforting and reassuring.
***
Capital City.
Fu Qingxuan finished listening to her phone, hung up quietly, and said, "Heaven's Punishment has agreed. The President will be back with the compass fragments shortly."
As for the Five Elements Alliance, the First Elder had already reported the Nine Elders' decision over the phone—they agreed to provide the compass fragments.
As an official organization, protocol was sometimes more important than the outcome; even if just going through the motions, the Nine Elders still had to call and officially report the result of their deliberations.
The Lord of the Central Court and the Crimson Fire Sect Master immediately opened their guild warehouses and retrieved the two fragments they kept in custody.
Brilliant starlight descended from the sky, sweeping toward the two fragments.
Suddenly, the figure in the burgundy suit returned. Seeing the two fragments being swept up by starlight, he snapped his fingers at once.
*Snap!*
The compass fragments vanished and reappeared in his hand.
The five Alliance leaders looked over immediately. The Crimson Fire Sect Master's thick brows shot up in anger. "What are you doing?!"
"Morality Points have been restored," the President said, cutting straight to the chase, fearing the crude Fire Master would strike without asking.
Surprised and doubtful, the five Alliance leaders checked their attribute panels.
"Holy shit, Morality Points really are back!" Sect Leader Jiang's rugged face lit up with excitement.
The Alliance leaders felt a profound sense of relief. The Lord of the Central Court mused, "Has the Spirit Realm's self-repair mechanism been triggered?"
At any rate, it couldn't possibly be that Ling Tuo had found a conscience and released the Merit Roster of his own accord.
Asura, built like a black iron tower, opened his attribute panel. After staring at it for a few seconds, he turned and left without a word.
"Asura, take me with you!" Demon Eye Heavenly King cried in shock.
"Fine!" Asura agreed as expected, then kicked off the ground and rocketed straight into the clouds like a cannonball, disappearing into the northwestern sky.
Demon Eye Heavenly King: "..."
Before the five Alliance leaders could strike, the President snapped his fingers. "Banish!"
Demon Eye Heavenly King vanished.
***
New York County, Harbor.
Massive hundred-meter-tall waves had been slamming incessantly against the barrier. Amid the relentless battering, the wall-like waves suddenly receded rapidly, and the sea returned to calm at a visible rate.
From the deep purple clouds blanketing New York County came unwilling, furious roars, before the clouds swiftly dispersed.
Over the ruins of the Sea God Church, the Twisted Realm withdrew voluntarily. The Gu Dragon, the Ancient God of War, and the Myriad Illusions retreated one after another. The Smoker's body abruptly collapsed, chunks of flesh splattering everywhere against the rubble and distant buildings. The man in the suit took a single step and returned to the island at the harbor.
The demigods of the evil faction retreated with lingering resentment, leaving behind only the Sea Emperor clutching his trident and the giant with the Heart of the Ocean embedded in his chest.
The two Siren demigods dismissed their dharmakayas, sat cross-legged, and gasped for breath, inhaling huge amounts of oxygen.
***
Inside the Spirit Realm, Zhang Yuanqing felt the will inside his body fading away rapidly, and the scorching pain ebbed like a receding tide. He gradually regained sensation in his physical body.
"The Sun is ownerless; its radiance will slowly fade over time. You must become the Lord of the Sun and take command of the Merit Roster as soon as possible. Otherwise, next time there will be no one to clean up the mess," the Demon Lord's obsession said indifferently.
"I'll point you down a clear path: in the treasury of the Feathered Immortal Sect, I left behind something very important. When you find yourself in a desperate situation, you can open that treasury, and it might just give you a sliver of hope for survival.
"Before you reach a dead end, I don't recommend you explore that place. Some things lose their value as trump cards once they are revealed to the world."
With that, the Demon Lord's obsession turned into a beam of starlight and departed the Spirit Realm world.
Inside the divine temple, dazzling starlight rose, and Zhang Yuanqing returned to the killing instance.
Sweeping his gaze around, he saw Qingzhu treating Jiang Ju's injuries, while Xiahou Aotian sat cross-legged, refining the medicinal effects to recover his vitality.
Xiao Yuan controlled the deity, standing guard beside the two charred bodies—both to prevent the two enemies from clinging to life and to stop other orthodox members from snatching the kills.
The others remained silent, waiting without a word.
Seeing him return, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Reilly Eugene looked at Zhang Yuanqing with a strange expression. "Should I call you Jumang, or Yuanshi Tianzun?"
He had already learned from Alicia that "Jumang" was an alias of Yuanshi Tianzun. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the Beast King who had fought side by side with him was actually the famed Yuanshi Tianzun of the Second District.
"Yuanshi Tianzun, of course." Zhang Yuanqing stretched his limbs. Feeling full control over his body return, he finally lowered the last trace of guard in his heart.
*Strange. How did the Demon Lord's obsession know everything? He had even anticipated today before returning to the Spirit Realm, making arrangements in advance. Ling Tuo commands the Lunar, and not even the Lord of Stars could divine his actions. How could the Demon Lord's obsession know Ling Tuo's scheme?* Zhang Yuanqing briefly reviewed the situation, and the more he thought about it, the more something felt off.
However, now that the Demon Lord's obsession had dispersed and died completely, no one could answer his doubts.
"Why haven't you finished them off yet?" Zhang Yuanqing looked at Huang Taiji and Yin Ji.
Yin Ji pressed her lips together and remained silent.
Huang Taiji said, "We were waiting for you to return so we could settle the completion rewards together."
With no more hesitation, he stomped down, snapping Bloody Liquid's neck to finish him off.
Yin Ji, meanwhile, retrieved an item to draw out Sleeping Dragon Lord's spirit, then drove a dagger through his heart.
Once this was done, the notification chime of the Spirit Realm sounded in everyone's ears:
[Ding! Congratulations on completing the killing instance—World Museum, ID: 0000, Difficulty: "Unknown." Calculating rewards...]
Chapter 802